Day: March 8, 2012

I have a great idea. A few years ago the gimmick documentary maker Morgan Spurlock made his movie Super Size Me where he eats McDonalds every day for a month and every time they ask him ‘Do you want to super size it’, he says ‘yes’.

During the month they monitor his health and vitals which all go down the tube. I don’t know how this is really considered an expose of any sorts, really more of an extreme stunt.

Here’s something that would be more interesting. All of the fast food companies claim you can eat healthy at their restaurants. Some example from their websites:

McDonalds

“Eating right isn’t always easy – we have lots of menu choices to help you.”

Wendy’s

“At Wendy’s, we believe in choice. Choice in toppings. Choice in dressings. And the choice to select from a wide variety of nutritious options.”

KFC

“We believe eating sensibly, combined with appropriate exercise, is the best solution for a healthy lifestyle. KFC offers a variety of menu items for those that want lower fat, lower calorie choices, including Kentucky Grilled Chicken and Honey BBQ Sandwiches, corn on the cob, BBQ baked beans and green beans. ”

Taco Bell, KFC and I assume other Pepsi owned companies all have links to the ‘Keep it Balanced‘ website. To me this is just amazing. They show a family eating fried chicken, biscuits, cole slaw, drinking soda- probably the worst meal in the world, and then say ‘Its a simple formula, ‘Energy In=Energy Out’. Do you know how much energy you’d have to put out to make up for that meal? Its so ridiculous.The whole website kind of ticks me off to be honest!

Subway is of course the king of healthy eating marketing, even promoting their food as a diet choice with celebrity athletes such as Apollo Anton Ohno and Michael Phelps. Here’s the thing- how many people really make the healthy choices at Subway? No mayo or sauces, wheat bread with one of the 8 possible ‘fresh fit’ selections? Last time you went to subway did you stick by the rules and get the healthy choice?

To their credit, Burger King, Carl’s Jr, and In N Out are all more honest, merely stating their nutritional information and not making claims of health in any way.

Anyway, here is my idea. Someone should put the fast food companies to their word and do a month of eating fast food. Order the ‘healthiest’ options and see if it could really be done and be healthy. Follow vitals and participate in moderate exercise as all the sites suggest. I don’t think it could be done.

I say this because I am tempted by fast food. It is sometimes difficult to get the motivation to cook just for myself and fast food is so easy. The idea of it being ‘healthy’ does sometimes convince me to go and I always regret it. In 2010 I went an entire year without fast food and it was awesome. Usually I stay away but every once in a while I fall into the habit.

I’m not one of those people that think fast food should be criminalized and monitored like the cigarette companies but it does seem like false advertising to claim health when in truth it is almost always an indulgence.